High concentration ion gun

Abstract

To provide an ion gun that emits high concentration ion air capable of spraying a large amount of ions.SOLUTION: An ion gun 1 includes a pressurized air passage 10 for conveying pressurized air A, a chamber 20 into which air A flows from the pressurized air passage 10 and into which ionized air B flows out, a soft X-ray generator 60 for generating soft X-rays X for ionizing the air A in the chamber 20, and a valve 40 provided at an outlet 30 for the ionized air B flowing out of the chamber 20.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an ion gun. In particular, it relates to an ion gun that ionizes and discharges air by soft X-rays.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, in the manufacturing processes of semiconductors, liquid crystals, and organic ELs, in the processing and handling processes of semiconductor substrates, liquid crystal substrates, and organic EL substrates, static electricity is charged on the surface of the substrates, and there is a problem that the circuits of the semiconductor substrates, liquid crystal substrates, and organic EL substrates are damaged by the static electricity. In addition, the charging of each substrate also causes problems such as the adhesion of dust or moisture to the surface.

[0003] As a countermeasure against such problems, a method of spraying ions onto the surface of the substrate using an ion gun to prevent charging and remove static electricity is known. As ion guns, a corona discharge type that ionizes air at a high voltage and a soft X-ray type that irradiates air with soft X-rays to ionize the air are known.

[0004] In the corona discharge type, particles (fine powder) are generated from the electrodes during discharge, so it is not suitable for use in the above processes. Therefore, generally, the soft X-ray type has been used. However, since the leakage of soft X-rays affects the human body, the soft X-ray blocking sheet that blocks the straight-line propagation of soft X-rays and attenuates and eliminates the soft X-rays by making the number of collisions of the soft X-rays with the passage at least 3 times or more before reaching the discharge port is used to prevent the leakage of soft X-rays (Patent Document - 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0005]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0006] As semiconductors and the like become increasingly delicate, there has been a demand to increase the amount of ions released in order to neutralize even fine structures. In particular, when stacking wafers, if the wafers are charged, it becomes difficult to stack them due to electrostatic attraction and repulsion. In such cases, it may be required to neutralize a small target wafer in a short time, and it has been desired to blow a large amount of ions. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an ion gun that emits high-concentration ionized air.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0007] In order to solve the above problems, an ion gun 1 according to a first aspect of the present invention includes, for example, as shown in FIG. 1, a pressurized air passage 10 that conveys pressurized air A, an air A flows into a chamber 20 from the pressurized air passage 10, and an ionized air B flows out, and an X-ray generator 60 that generates soft X-rays X for ionizing the air A in the chamber 20, and a valve 40 provided at an outlet 30 of the ionized ionized air B flowing out from the chamber 20.

[0008] With this configuration, the pressurized air conveyed from the pressurized air passage to the chamber is ionized by the soft X-rays generated by the soft X-ray generator to become ionized air. The ionized air is pushed by the pressurized air from the pressurized air passage and discharged from the outlet, but the outflow is controlled by a valve provided at the outlet. That is, when the valve is in the closed state, it is not discharged, and the pressure in the chamber increases. When the valve is opened, the ionized air with increased pressure flows out from the outlet. At that time, since the pressure in the chamber has increased, the outflow rate of the ionized air becomes faster. By the high-speed outflow of the ionized air, the arrival time to the object is shortened, the attenuation of ions is suppressed, and the object can be quickly neutralized with ionized air having a high ion concentration.

[0009] In the ion gun 1 according to the second aspect of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1 for example, a soft X-ray blocking sheet 24 is provided in the flow path of the ionized air B flowing out from the chamber 20. With this configuration, it is possible to prevent the soft X-rays in the chamber from leaking to the outside together with the ionized air, thereby enhancing safety.

[0010] In the ion gun 1 according to the third aspect of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1 for example, a soft X-ray blocking sheet 22 is provided in the flow path of the pressurized air A from the pressurized air passage 10 to the chamber 20. With this configuration, it is possible to prevent the soft X-rays in the chamber from leaking to the outside also from the inlet of the pressurized air, thereby enhancing safety.

[0011] In the ion gun 1 according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1 for example, a nozzle 70 is provided to prevent the diffusion of the ionized air B discharged from the outlet 30 and blow the ionized air B onto the object W. With this configuration, the ionized air does not diffuse after flowing out from the outlet and is blown onto the object to be electrostatically removed by the nozzle, so that a large amount of ions can be blown onto the object.

[0012] In the ion gun 1 according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2 for example, the valve 40 has a double cylinder structure of an outer cylinder 32 and an inner cylinder 42. The outer cylinder 32 has one end face 34 formed with outer air holes 36, and the inner cylinder 42 has one end face 44 formed with inner air holes 46. By the non-contact relative movement of the outer cylinder 32 and the inner cylinder 42, the ionized air B flows out through the outer air holes 36 and the inner air holes 46 to switch between an open state and a closed state in which the outflow is inhibited. It is a double cylinder valve. With this configuration, dust is not generated due to the friction between the outer cylinder and the inner cylinder when the valve opens and closes, and it becomes an ion gun suitable for removing static electricity from semiconductor substrates, liquid crystal substrates, organic EL substrates, etc.

Effects of the Invention

[0013] According to the ion gun of the present invention, there are provided a pressurized air passage for conveying pressurized air, a chamber into which air flows from the pressurized air passage and from which ionized air flows out, an X-ray generator for generating soft X-rays for ionizing the air in the chamber, and a valve provided at the outlet of the ionized air flowing out from the chamber. Therefore, the pressurized air conveyed from the pressurized air passage to the chamber is ionized by the soft X-rays generated by the X-ray generator to become ionized air. The ionized air is pushed by the pressurized air from the pressurized air passage and discharged from the outlet. However, when the valve provided at the outlet is in the closed state, it is not discharged, and the pressure in the chamber increases. When the valve is opened, the ionized air with increased pressure flows out from the outlet at a high flow rate, so that the arrival time to the object is shortened, the attenuation of ions is suppressed, and the object can be quickly neutralized with ionized air having a high ion concentration.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0014]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0015] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In each figure, the same or corresponding devices are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant descriptions are omitted. First, referring to FIG. 1, an ion gun 1 as an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

[0016] The ion gun 1 includes a pressurized air passage 10 that conveys pressurized air A, a chamber 20 into which the pressurized air A flows from the pressurized air passage 10 and from which ionized air B flows out, an X-ray generator 60 that generates soft X-rays X for ionizing the pressurized air A in the chamber 20, and a valve 40 provided at an outlet 30 of the ionized ionized air B flowing out of the chamber 20. The pressurized air A may be, for example, clean air used in a semiconductor manufacturing factory and pressurized by a compressor, or may be stored in an air tank.

[0017] The chamber 20 is a container that stores the pressurized air A conveyed from the pressurized air passage 10 and discharges it from the outlet 30. The X-ray generator 60 is adjacent to the chamber 20. The X-ray generator 60 generates soft X-rays X, and the soft X-rays X are irradiated onto the pressurized air A stored in the chamber 20, and a part of the pressurized air A is ionized to become ionized air B. Note that the ionized air B also includes air that remains non-ionized, that is, the pressurized air A itself. The pressurized air A stored in the chamber 20 may flow through the chamber 20. Usually, the pressure of the pressurized air A is lower than that in the pressurized air passage 10.

[0018] The ionized air B ionized by the soft X-rays X in the chamber 20 is pushed out by the pressurized air A from the pressurized air passage 10 and flows out from the outlet 30. However, the ion gun 1 is provided with a valve 40 that can be in an open state or a closed state at the outlet 30. When the valve 40 is in the closed state, the outflow of the ionized air B from the outlet 30 is suppressed. Therefore, the pressure in the chamber 20 rises so as to approach the pressure of the pressurized air A in the pressurized air passage 10. During that time, the air (pressurized air A and ionized air B) in the chamber 20 continues to be irradiated with the soft X-rays X from the X-ray generator 60. As a result, the amount of ions in the air in the chamber 20 increases, that is, the ion concentration becomes higher.

[0019] When the valve 40 is in the open state, the ionized air B in the chamber 20 flows out through the valve 40 from the outlet 30. At this time, the ionized air B is irradiated with more soft X-rays X in the chamber 20, and the ions are in a high concentration. Also, the pressure is high and it flows out at high speed. That is, the ionized air B reaches the object W in a short time after leaving the outlet 30 as intermittent masses B1, B2, B3,... of ionized air. Therefore, high-concentration ionized air B1, B2, B3,... is sprayed onto the object W, and the object W can be neutralized with the high-concentration ionized air B1, B2, B3,....

[0020] In addition, if a soft X-ray blocking sheet 24 is provided in the flow path of the ionized air B flowing out from the outlet 30 of the chamber 20, for example, on the upstream side of the valve 40 at the outlet 30 as shown in FIG. 1, it is possible to prevent the soft X-ray X from leaking from the chamber 20 together with the ionized air B, which is preferable because the safety is enhanced. Also, if a soft X-ray blocking sheet 24 is provided in the flow path of the pressurized air A conveyed from the pressurized air path 10 into the chamber 20, for example, at the connection part between the pressurized air path 10 and the chamber 20 or in the pressurized air path 10, it is possible to prevent the soft X-ray X from leaking from the inlet of the pressurized air A from the chamber 20, which is more preferable because the safety is further enhanced.

[0021] The soft X-ray blocking sheets 22 and 24 may be, for example, soft X-ray blocking sheets disclosed in Patent Document 1 in which three sheets of a material that does not allow the soft X-ray X to pass through are laminated, and the flow paths of the ionized air B formed in each sheet are bent to inhibit the linear passage of the soft X-ray X. In particular, it is preferable that the soft X-ray blocking sheet 24 is insulated from the chamber 20 by an insulator (not shown). By insulating the soft X-ray blocking sheet 24 from the chamber 20, it is possible to prevent the ions in the ionized air B from being trapped by the soft X-ray blocking sheet 24.

[0022] Also, as shown in FIG. 1, the ion gun 1 may be provided with a nozzle 70 that prevents the diffusion of the ionized air B discharged from the outlet 30 and sprays the ionized air B onto the object W. It becomes possible to spray higher-concentration ionized air B onto the object W.

[0023] Next, with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, an example of the valve 40 used in the ion gun 1 will be described. The valve 40 has a double-cylinder structure of an outer cylinder 32 and an inner cylinder 42. In this book, such a valve is referred to as a "double-cylinder valve". The outer cylinder 32 has one end face 34 of a cylinder, and outer air holes 36 through which air flows are formed in the end face 34. The quantity and shape of the outer air holes 36 are not particularly limited, but in FIG. 3, two fan-shaped outer air holes 36 are formed. The inner cylinder 42 has one end face 44 of a cylinder, and inner air holes 46 through which air flows are formed in the end face 44. Similar to the outer air holes 36, two fan-shaped inner air holes 46 are formed in FIG. 3.

[0024] The inner dimension of the outer cylinder 32 is larger than the outer dimension of the inner cylinder 42. When the outer cylinder 32 covers the inner cylinder 42, a gap is formed between the outer cylinder 32 and the inner cylinder 42. The inner cylinder 42 is fixed to the chamber 20. The outer cylinder 32 is supported by an elastic member (not shown) such as a spring from the chamber 20 so that the end face 34 does not contact the end face 34 of the inner cylinder 42. And a solenoid mechanism 50 is provided so as to separate / approach the distance from the chamber 20. In the ion gun 1, the elastic member and the solenoid mechanism 50 constitute a valve movement mechanism. Here, when the outer cylinder 32 approaches the chamber 20, the gap between the end face 34 of the outer cylinder 32 and the end face 44 of the inner cylinder 42 becomes narrower. At this time, if the outer air holes 36 and the inner air holes 46 are formed at positions where they do not overlap, the ionized air B that has passed through the inner cylinder 42 must flow through the gap between the end face 34 of the outer cylinder 32 and the end face 44 of the inner cylinder 42, and the flow is obstructed. Therefore, by narrowing the gap between the end face 34 of the outer cylinder 32 and the end face 44 of the inner cylinder 42, almost no ionized air B flows, and the valve 40 is in a closed state. On the other hand, when the outer cylinder 32 separates from the chamber 20, the gap between the end face 34 of the outer cylinder 32 and the end face 44 of the inner cylinder 42 becomes wider, and the ionized air B that has passed through the inner cylinder 42 flows through the gap between the end faces 34 and 44 and flows out from the outer air holes 36. That is, the valve 40 is in an open state.

[0025] According to the valve 40 as described above, the outer cylinder 32 and the inner cylinder 42 can move relative to each other without contact and switch between the closed state and the open state. Therefore, no fine powder is generated due to friction when opening and closing the valve 40. Thus, it becomes the ion gun 1 suitable for discharging static electricity from a semiconductor substrate, a liquid crystal substrate, an organic EL substrate, etc.

[0026] Also, since the valve moving mechanism, that is, the elastic member supporting the outer cylinder 32 and the solenoid mechanism 50 for moving it, is provided on the chamber 20 side of the valve 40, even if fine powder is generated due to the sliding of the elastic member and the solenoid mechanism 50, it can be prevented from being mixed into the ionized air B.

[0027] Although the outer cylinder 32 and the inner cylinder 42 have been described as cylinders, they may be square cylinders or elliptical cylinders, the cross-sectional shape is arbitrary, and they may have different shapes between the outer cylinder 32 and the inner cylinder 42. Also, although the valve moving mechanism has been described such that the outer cylinder 32 is supported by an elastic member and moved by the solenoid mechanism 50, the inner cylinder 42 may be supported and moved. And the support is not limited to an elastic member, and it may be suspended so as to move within an arbitrary range, or supported by other known means. Also, the movement is not limited to the solenoid mechanism 50, and a piezo element or other known means may be used.

[0028] Next, with reference to FIG. 4, the ion gun 2 that emits high-concentration ionized air B with another configuration will be described. In the ion gun 2, similarly to the ion gun 1, pressurized air A is conveyed from the pressurized air passage 10 into the chamber 20, ionized by the soft X-ray X in the chamber 20, and the ionized air B flows out from the outlet 30 and is blown onto the object W. However, the ion gun 2 does not have the valve 40, and instead includes a plurality of soft X-ray generators 62 and 64. In FIG. 4, two soft X-ray generators 62 and 64 are shown, but three or more soft X-ray generators may be provided. With this configuration, more soft X-rays X are irradiated onto the pressurized air A, so that more ions are generated, resulting in ionized air B with a high ion concentration. Therefore, it becomes possible to blow ionized air B with a higher concentration onto the object W.

[0029] In addition, in order to irradiate the pressurized air A with the soft X-rays X more uniformly in the chamber 20, a plurality of pressurized air passages 10 may be provided so that the pressurized air A flows in front of the soft X-ray sources of the plurality of soft X-ray generators 62 and 64 in the chamber 20, or a branch may be provided at the chamber 20 inlet of the pressurized air passage 10 so that the pressurized air A is conveyed into the chamber 20 from a plurality of inlets.

[0030] The ion gun 2 is also provided with a nozzle 70 at the outlet 30, but the nozzle 70 may be omitted.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0031] 1, 2 Ion guns 10 Pressurized air passage 20 Chamber 22, 24 Soft X-ray shielding sheet 30 Outlet 32 Outer cylinder 34 (One end face of the outer cylinder) 36 Outer air hole 40 Valve 42 Inner cylinder 44 (One end face of the inner cylinder) 46 Inner air hole 50 Solenoid mechanism (valve drive mechanism) 60, 62, 64 Soft X-ray generators 70 Nozzle A Pressurized air B, B1, B2, B3 Ionized air W Object X Soft X-ray

Claims

1. A pressurized air passage for conveying pressurized air; A chamber into which air flows from the pressurized air passage and from which ionized air flows out; An X-ray generator that generates soft X-rays for ionizing the air in the chamber; Comprising a valve provided at the outlet of the ionized air flowing out of the chamber; An ion gun.

2. A soft X-ray blocking sheet is provided in the flow path of the ionized air flowing out of the chamber; The ion gun according to Claim 1.

3. A soft X-ray blocking sheet is provided in the flow path of the pressurized air from the pressurized air passage to the chamber; The ion gun according to Claim 2.

4. Comprising a nozzle that prevents the diffusion of the ionized air discharged from the outlet and blows the ionized air onto an object; The ion gun according to any one of Claims 1 to 3.

5. The valve has a double cylinder structure of an outer cylinder and an inner cylinder. The outer cylinder has one end face formed with outer air holes, and the inner cylinder has one end face formed with inner air holes. By relatively moving the outer cylinder and the inner cylinder without contact, switching between an open state in which ionized air flows out through the outer air holes and the inner air holes and a closed state in which the outflow is inhibited is performed. It is a double cylinder valve; The ion gun according to any one of Claims 1 to 3.

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